Ophthalmic lens



Sept. 14, 1926. 1,599,855

A. B. WELLS OPHTHALMIC LENS Original Filed Dec. 5. 1924 42 sheets-sheet 1 I 771167) ioi' mbm" BWells.

Sept. 14,1926. 1,599,855

A. B. WELLS OPHTHALMIC LENS Original Filed Dec. 3. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 177V? for (1mm Buns. WMQ /L/ Patented S ept 14-, 1 926.;

1 .mm'a ants, or meme; flalontmmQJinsmimfl 'ro musician or- TICAL monxor xassaonusnr'rs c'narm'rrir;' 01?. ovmnnmee -.maes a1cnusnrrs, A vowxuar .assocm- :.,.j ommm@ 1 time origina'lfapplioation nd December 8,: 1924; Serial as, use s mimglomen fg improvements in ophthalmic lenses; and has This invention relates to newand useful particular reference to an improved'bifocal lens .and a process for the production of the,

same.

This is adivision of my application Sc rial Number 753,665, filed December- 3, 1924.

A most important object of my invention is to produce a bifocal lens having a' reading portion of varying power.

Another important ob ect of my invention is to produce a bifocal lens having a reading portion, the power of which increases gradually from its line of juncture with the distance portion.

A further. object of my invention is to provide a process by which additional power curves maybe applied to the reading portion of a partially finished bifocal blank.

A still further object of-rriy invention is to provide a process by which a blank may be ground on one side to form a distance portion, and a reading portion, and-by which curves adding additional power to the read-' ing portionmay be formed thereon'without damaging the finished side of the lens.

Aystill further object of my invent-ionis to providea one. piece bifocal lens having-I a readingportion formed of gradually, in-

creasing power from its "line of. juncture outward and to construct this lenssu'chfthat there will be. no jump between the reading portion and the-distance portion.

Other, objects and advantages of my inyention will become apparent during the course of the following' description taken in connection. with the accompanying draw- In the drawing, wherein I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, and wherein like numerals are used to designate corresponding parts throughout all views of the same Figure 1 is a front elevation of a blank employed in my process;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same taken on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken i through a mold in which is positioned a lens about tobe molded;

Figure 4: is a similar view after the lens has been heated to plastic state at. 703,065. mum i this menu and April Figure bis asectionalview ofa lens blank as 1t s removed from the mold;

' F1gure;.-6' is a 'similarview showing the same ground to the finis'hdlens;

'- isatransversese'ctionthrough a moldshowing a modified form of the curved button employed in jmy process Figures 'sa top plan. view of the button,

and 1 I Figure 9 is a front elevation of a finished lens on which is graphically. represented a varlatlon in' power of, the reading portion. The well known manner of making bifocal lenses at the present time is by providing the mam lens blank with a recess or depres sion and then fusing a button in this recess or depresslon, and subsequently grinding the blank thus formed to the proper curvature. In'constructing lenses in this manner the power of'the reading portion is always the same at the top as at the bottom and it is, therefore, one of the most important objects of my invention toproduce a lens'having a variable reading portion. In the past vanous attempts have been made'to produce bifocal'lenses having variable reading portrons, arnongst which has been the atternpt .tQ'providejailensblank with a plurali ty of concentricfdepressions, and then fusmgin these depressions a segment of a different;refractive-power than the original blank. While this process has produced a multifocal lens, it has not been" commercially practical, in that. the finished lens hashad prismatic effects which were both unsatisfactory and dangerous.

Another process has contemplated the grinding of these series of various power curves on the reading portion ofa bifocal lens, but this too has been unsuccessful in that there has always been too much of a jump between each of the different curves, whereby a person on looking through the lens is troubled by the jumping from one sec- 7 tion to another. Y

My invention overcomes these'diliiculties in that I grind one surface of my lens to produce a distance portion and a reading portion and then mold onto the reading portion by indenting the opposite side of the blank a series of curves of additional power. In carrying out my invention I employ ever, inthe jsettingqforthlof my invention I ,5

I employ train, t pe lens and grind the concave stirfacIof-t is'fblank with a distance portion-'12 andpia reading portion 11. .In "'grindin this distance portion and read- ,ing port1on,;I prefer although'I do not limit myselfrentirely to t ismeans; to grind the same n1onocentric, 1asclearly shown In Figure'2 of the drawing,'wherein the numeral A designates the central axis on which the pivot of the axis -B falls .for grinding the distance portion,'land on which'likewise the axis Oransror grindingthe' reading-portion; *In grindim my lens monocentric such as this, it isobvi'ous that I produce a subuse any shape of iblo'ckilthat "If'desire,1

stantiall V jumpless-bifocal lens. After the one ear ace-of the blank has been ground andlpolished thesame is placed-in a mold 13,.whereby the desired additional power curv'es areproduced on the reading portlon. In orderito produce these curves I provide a curved'jblock l4 having-Ia spin formed on? the "under face thereof and adapted to be seated within a recess 16 in a. mold,

. In} practical .it'is' obvious that l" may as for, example =-in' Figuref 'li. I have shown a;-b-1ak:1 a, wherein thecurveis substan-' :tia'lly' gradual 011e,. and by which a simil'ar gr'adualf' curve would-be appliedtothe 7 reading portion; 1 It is obviousfthat-these bloeks-may take anyone of adesired numof forms, eachform representing some fdefinite purvesgfw V mg portion of my. len I I *Asjillustrated 'n Fi u're f.ing-,'.-a lens' blank 1'0 finished on'the con,- cave "surface asat 11 andlQjhas been po sitioned within the mold 13. prior the ad *ditional shaping oi .the reading" portion.

f JIt-Will be; seem that .thep'oint' on the un- .plo-we'r curve or, group ofpower 3'; erthe crew.

' n s le de O y n dive 3 pp the reading portion, rests [upon and'is sup- 1 ported by the block '14. In order to retain the lens in its properfposfitionia'nd prevent -a'nyi lateral movement on} the 'part .of the same, I provide a filler block 20,- 'arranged Yup'on the opposite side of the mold and preventing the lens from 'slidingor from los-"' ing its general form, and thus finished surface otthe same;

In Figure 4,. I haveshown the lens posi-' -fltioned in the mold, and-have shown the shape that it takes. when it is-heated to plasticity. From this view it will be seen that thejreading portion 11.is forced up- I 'wardl to take the shape'of the block v14- place in the base of the mold. In the forming of alone with my improved 'proc-' y W 'fl l f od'init's proper set po- Although I ighI, de i 't dd 1 1; the readtake. thelform of individual curves, it is to spoi th I a V y t dency in holding a' paper or bookbefore menses,

see the various curving will be produced as follows; For example, I take a blank having a minus 6 distance portion, with a minus 4.50 reading portion, adda plus 1.50 to thereading portion through the curved block, and then rind the convex surface of thelens to a p us 7. It will be regard to the reading portion, and that the unfinished face of the lens maybe. ground as desired inaccordance with the powers to be obtained in the reading portion and in the distance portion.

In Figure '5 of the drawing I have shown the lens blank as it is removed from the mold after having had formed on the readortion the additional curves. The dotte linein'Fi ure 5 represents diagrammatically the point to which the lens may .befinished on the convex side, it being understoodphowever, that said line is mere 1 representative, and that in real practice 1: elens maybefinished on this'side'to any power desired.

f InjFigure' 6 is shown the lens after the convex side 'has been ground and finished to ",the desired power, and shows more or lessdiagrammatically the additions to the dreading portion which I have exaggerated to illustrate more clearly, and" which I have designated b the numerals 1 7', 18' and 19. ave shown these additions to be understoodqthat it.. is my intention to provide the .blockf'14 with a substantially adually jincreasing curve, such that the fl'nishedjlens 'w ill'be rovided, not with a series of' curves of iflerent powers, but with a. curve. gradually increasing from its line of juncture "with the reading portion toits outer edge."

In Figure 9, I have shown a front elevation of a'lens finished in accordance with my process "and whereinis illustrated a adual increaseoof 'power from the line of uncture tothe readmg portion to its outer edge. It can be seen that a lens'constructed in this manner is' particularly advantageous when lusedr fo'r reading, as a persons natural theeyes, is'to holdthe same with a certain degree of slant, the: upper portion of the paper or book being usually a further distahce'1fr0m the ,eye thanthat portion to- ,ward thenbottom. When reading, a per- 'sons eyes will traveldownwardly over the object, bringingthe "letters closer to the eye as they. travel' downwardly, so that the variable curves of the reading portion will be used to great advantage in retaining the same line of vision, thereby retaining the same strength or power to the lens with regard to the various distances of the obects upon which the eyes are focused.

Although I have shown and described my invention as applied to a cliff type lens, it is to be understood that the same process may be applied to a lens of the merged type. In addition to this I also include within the scope and purpose of my invention the production of a fused bifocal lens following the same process. In applying this process to a bifocal lens of the fused type my process would find its application in grinding the segment receiving portion of the blank monocentric with the distance portion, forming additional power curves on the segment receiving portion by indenting the opposite surface of the blank and then fusing t e segment of a different refractive glass in the segment receiving portion that has been increased in power y my process. In this way I am able to combine with the advantage of a variable reading portion, the equal advantage of a segment of the different refractive power, obtaining all of the advantages of a fused bifocal, together with the obvious advantages of a variable reading portion.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have produced a lens having a substantially jumpless joinder between the reading portion and the distance portion, and have further provided the reading portion with a gradual increase in power from its juncture outward. It will be apparent that the grinding and polishing of the unfinished surface of the lens will eliminate all circular zone efiects produced by the mold block 14 so that when the finished lens is ready for the market all effects of the molding rocess will be entirely removed.

W fiile I have shown and described but one form of my invention, which I prefer to present as the preferred embodiment of the same, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to make certain departures there from, insofar as I remain within the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. The process of producing a multifocal le consisting in grinding and polishing distance and reading portions on one surface finished surface of the blank. at a of a blank, heating the blank to plasticity, applying additional power curves to a port1on of the reading portion, by forcing u wardly from the unfinished surface of t e plastic blank a portion opposite part of the reading portion and havlng the curve de sired, and grinding the-unfinished surface of the lens to the power desired.

2. The process of producing a variable reading portion in a lens of the bifocal type, consisting in grinding and polishing to definite powers readin and distance portions on one surface of a blank, placing the blank in a mold the unfinished side of the blank adJacent the floor of the mold the same being provided with an upstanding button of some definite curve, heatin the blank to plasticity to form on the reading segment of the finished surface a curve corresponding to the curve of the button, and grinding the unfinished surface of the lens to the power desired.

3. The process of producing a variable read ng portion on a lens of the bifocal type, consisting in grinding and polishing todefimte powers reading and distance portions on one surface of a blank, heating the blank to plasticity, applying additional power curves to a part of the reading portion, by forcing a button of the'desired curvatures into the unpoint opposite the part of the reading portlon to be made stronger, and grinding and polishing the unfinished surface to the power desired.

4. The process of producing a variable reading portion on a lens of the bifocal type, consisting in grinding and olishing to definite powers, reading and istance portions on one surface of a blank heating the blank to plasticit increasing the power of a part of the rea ing portion by indenting the unfinished surface of the blank at a point opposite the part of the reading portion to be in creased, and grinding the unfinished surface to the power desired.

5. The process of producing a multifocal lens blank, consisting in grinding and polishing distance and reading portions on one surface of a blank heatin the blank to plasticity, and applying a ditional power curves to a portion of the reading portion by forcing upwardly from the unfinished surface of the plastic blank a portion opposite part of the reading portion, and having the curve desired.

ALBERT B. WELLS. 

